


First Date

by pandora_lovegood



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 20:40:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21124910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandora_lovegood/pseuds/pandora_lovegood
Summary: Hermione Granger is on track to be the youngest ever Minister for Magic. There's only one complication: she needs Draco Malfoy's support.





	First Date

“We need to test the waters, see how some of the more influential families feel.” 

Hermione frowned at the folder her adviser had given her. “I’m not looking to be Minister of influential families, I’m looking at possibly being the Minister of all Wizarding Britain.” 

“And that includes many influential families, who could make or break this campaign, especially when it comes to raising galleons.” 

Ernie was still a bit pompous but he had grown into some of his youthful exuberance and had been a strategic aide to Hermione for three years now. 

Sensing she was still hesitant, Ernie continued, “Everyone knows you’re brilliant Hermione, but you don’t just accidentally end up as the youngest Minister for Magic ever, even if you’ve already been the youngest head of the Department of Magical Law and the driving force behind every piece of meaningful legislation for almost a decade. When Shacklebolt retires people are going to be looking for reassurances that things will remain stable. We’re lucky people will even consider someone who isn’t coming out of the Auror office.”

“I know but this plan feels... icky.”

“Of course it’s  _ icky _ , Hermione, it’s politics. All you have to do is go to a handful of nice dinners. I’ve already made all of the arrangements. If you can get the support of these five families and secure assurances when it comes to fundraising, we’ll be well on our way to the top office.” 

Hermione finally opened and flipped through the folder, looking at the various dossiers prepared for her. “Why the Lovegoods?”

“The Quibbler’s audience has grown considerably since the war and they have a certain influence over public perception. The growth in their readership has also impacted their Gringott’s account... they’re rolling in it according to some sources.” 

“The Ogdens, Abbotts, and Fawleys I understand... but Malfoy?” She scrunched up her face, ignoring the little flip her stomach did and the way her heart sped up, and pushed the folder away. “Must I?”

“You know he has influence and he absolutely has the galleons. We can’t ignore him, and besides, he practically jumped at the opportunity to have dinner with you.” 

Hermione wondered what that might mean. The Slytherin rarely made a move on another's behalf without getting something in return. She considered what Malfoy might want in exchange for his support. 

She took a sip of her afternoon tea and sat up straighter in her chair. “I’ll do this, Ernie, but I really need you to talk to me  _ before  _ you schedule something like a week’s worth of dinners on my behalf in the future.”

* * *

Hermione looked at herself in the mirror the following Friday, trying to imagine seeing herself through Draco Malfoy’s steel eyes. She knew why she was dawdling over her appearance tonight more than she had before any of the previous four dinners this week. Even though the two of them rarely spoke beyond cordial greetings these days she recognized that her body reacted to him more than most men she came across. He wasn’t Witch Weekly’s Most Eligible Bachelor three years running for nothing. 

The other dinners had gone well. All four families were enthusiastic about her prospects and pledged their social and financial support. Still she felt a twinge of worry about tonight’s dinner. She didn’t expect Malfoy to be quite so ready to back her without a catch. 

“If it’s not a challenge is it even worth doing?” She repeated her frequently used mantra out loud at the mirror and then smiled, in spite of herself. She wore a simple dark blue dress, had her hair mostly under control thanks to anti-frizz and smoothing charms, and to finish off the look, added a pair of sapphire earrings that had been a gift from Ginny. There was nothing obvious for Malfoy to tease her about, at least, not as far as she could see. 

She arrived at the restaurant five minutes early and was greeted by the now familiar hostess. She wasn’t sure what motivated Ernie to use the same restaurant for all five nights but she was inwardly grateful for it. At least the environment was a constant, even if the company changed from night to night. And the menu was certainly varied enough that she wouldn’t have to eat the same thing twice. 

She was only half-surprised to see Malfoy, with his platinum locks and finely tailored dark gray suit, already sitting at what she now fondly thought of as  _ her  _ table. He stood up as she approached and she stuck out her hand, ready for a cordial handshake. What she got instead was Malfoy bending down slightly and pulling her hand up to brush his lips. 

"Mr. Malfoy, pleasure to see you." She took back her hand hoping he didn’t see her blush and sat at the table.

A waiter brought a bottle of wine that Malfoy had apparently already ordered on their behalf. "I hope you don't mind red," he said as the glasses were filled, "this particular vintage is a favorite of mine."

Hermione noticed a spark in his silvery eyes as she raised her glass to take a sip. He raised one eyebrow. "I believe this is the first time a woman has sent her assistant to ask me out on a date." 

She choked and nearly spit her red wine all over the pristine white tablecloth. After a moment of coughing she collected herself enough to respond. "This is not a date, Malfoy."

"Whatever you say, darling." He winked at her. Winked! What game was he playing? She was determined not to get flustered. Was he just trying to throw her off balance? She wondered what response he was expecting, and settled on giving him the one he probably expected least. 

"You're quite right,  _ dear _ . How has your week been?" She inwardly flinched, hearing the suggestive tone in her own voice. 

If he was surprised by her response, he didn’t show it. "Oh you know. A quick trip to France to check on the vineyards, a number of terribly boring estate meetings,  _ two _ charity events," he paused to yawn for effect, "the usual, really. But I'm happy to be ending the week on a high note, here with you." 

Before she could respond the waiter returned to take their order. Malfoy ordered the steak and Hermione decided to finally try the duck. 

"Excellent choice," Malfoy said approvingly as the waiter departed. 

"I'm glad you approve but truly I was beginning to run out of options. This is my fifth night here this week."

Malfoy feigned shock. "Do you mean to tell me that I'm not the only gentleman being courted by you?" 

"Indeed I'm afraid you are not, sir. Although you are the only one so far to come pre-approved by Witch Weekly.” She winked at him, giving him a taste of his own medicine. He smirked. 

“Truly though,” she continued, trying to bring the conversation back to her purposes, “you must know my choice of company is also influenced by a deep desire for social justice and governmental efficiency." 

"Of course, your reputation precedes you and I have my own firsthand experience to confirm it. You are a woman of integrity and passion, especially when it comes to your work." He lifted his glass to her and took a quick sip. 

She blushed slightly as he continued, "But I do find myself wondering, what makes such a witch happy when the workday is done? How does she enjoy herself?"

She considered this question for a moment and then responded playfully, “I’ll give you three guesses.”

He raised his eyebrows and she felt like she could almost see the gears turning in his head. 

“Let’s see...” he shifted in his seat, “Reading, obviously. I’d bet 100 galleons you even have a book shoved into that tiny bag you brought with you here this evening. Lobbying on behalf of underprivileged classes and creatures. And of course spending time with those very Gryffindor friends of yours.”

“Three for three... I have to say I’m surprised you know me so well, Malfoy.”

“You know what they say, keep your friends close and ...” He winked at her again. 

“Is that what we are, enemies?” It was her turn to raise her eyebrows. 

He smirked at her. “Maybe I’ll ask you that question, at the end of the night.” 

She considered pressing the topic but decided to let it go for now. “Reading isn’t the only bit of culture I enjoy though, you know. I also like museums... the theater... traveling.”

They spent the next hour eating and conversing easily about books they both enjoyed, plays they had seen, and trips they had taken. Hermione was surprised how smooth the conversation went when they were both pretending to be nice like this.

She was also surprised when he waved away the waiter when he came by with the dessert menu. She felt like maybe he wasn’t enjoying himself as much as he seemed to be, and if he was in a hurry to wrap things up, she ought to get down to business. 

“Listen, Malfoy, I appreciate you meeting me for dinner this evening. I hope I can count on your...”

“Do you like ice cream?” He interrupted her. 

“Y-yes?” she was confused but he suddenly had a really serious look on his face so she felt obligated to answer. 

“Come with me,” he said, standing up and offering her his arm. 

She let him lead her out of the restaurant and down a side street. When he seemed to be confident no one was around he pulled a comb out of his pocket and held it out to her. 

“Is something wrong with my hair?” she asked, still confused. 

“No, your hair is perfect. It’s a portkey, of course.”

Hermione stared at it suspiciously. She looked up at his face to see if she could find some trace of emotion there she recognized, but his eyes betrayed nothing, his face statuesque. She decided to switch tactics. 

"What is this game we're playing, Malfoy?"

"No game. Come or don’t come. You have my support and my galleons for your campaign, either way."

The comb started to twitch and faintly began to glow blue. She didn’t have time to properly think through her next move. She thought she saw the faintest shimmer in his eyes as she grabbed the comb and felt the familiar pull behind her navel. 

They landed in a dark alley and it was obvious immediately that they were no longer in London.

“Where are we?”

“Getting the best gelato in the world.”

“That doesn’t answer my question!”

She followed him out into a small square and she could see that they were in what appeared to be a medieval town with several tall towers built up into the sky. 

“San Gimignano,” he said breezily as he walked toward a small gelato shop, the only place with lights on in the dark square. 

“San Gimi... Italy. We’re in Italy! That was an INTERNATIONAL portkey!?” She pulled him back to face her before he could enter the gelato shop. 

“Listen, Granger,” he stepped closer to her, pushing a rogue curl out of her face like it was something he did every day, “you can yell at me about the strict legality of this little excursion in the middle of this lovely piazza or we can go inside and you can order what I promise is the best gelato of your life.”

She nearly growled at him. She was so conflicted and frustrated by the way he pulled her into this scheme unknowingly. But the gelato shop smelled amazing and they  _ were  _ already here...

“Okay, fine, but never do that to me again.”

He stood up straighter and put a hand over his heart. “I promise.”

She picked out her flavors (espresso and salted caramel) and he ordered for both of them in perfect Italian. She was determined to not be impressed after his little stunt, but she took her cone from the shop attendant, took one lick, and immediately felt like she had floated to a different plane of existence. This. Gelato. Was. Heaven. 

She barely noticed as he led her back outside the shop into the piazza and down one of the lanes. Her mouth was in a rare state of complete ecstasy as she slowly took in the creamy goodness and let the flavors hit each part of her tongue in turn. 

Malfoy stopped and watched her eat. “It’s rude to orgasm alone when you have a companion, you know.” He smirked at her shocked reaction. “What!? I’m just saying you should offer me a taste of yours. Trade?” 

He offered her his own cone of chocolate and pistachio and she acquiesced and swapped. She felt a little awkward sharing food with him on what was supposed to be a professional outing, but the cone was in her hand and the gelato was melting. She licked around the whole thing and looked up to find him watching her almost greedily. 

“What?” she asked. 

“Oh nothing... I’m just wondering if you’ve changed your mind about this little adventure.” 

She ignored this and focused on the ice cream. “At first I thought I just got lucky with my flavors, but if anything the pistachio is the best.” She handed his cone back to him and took hers with her other hand. 

“Do you want to go back and get more pistachio? Or you can have mine if you’d like.”

“No, thank you. I like my flavors, it was just an observation.” 

“Good, because we’re almost there, let’s go.” He turned and walked off into the dark again, through another alleyway that suddenly went steeply uphill. 

“Almost where?” 

He either didn’t hear her or was purposely ignoring the question. She took care on the cobblestones in her heels and tried to stay close as they started going up a narrow staircase. Eventually she stumbled out into a grassy clearing, a hill of sorts on the edge of the town. 

He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to a low brick wall they could sit on. The view was breathtaking, even in the dark. She could see all of the small town, the way it was encircled in an old wall and split into multiple piazzas. Lights twinkled all around and if she squinted she could almost make out the rolling Tuscan hills in the distance. 

He was sitting very close to her. If she wanted she could lean her head to the side and rest it on his shoulder.  _ What am I thinking? It’s Dra-co Mal-foy sitting next to me! I can’t snuggle up to him! _ She suddenly realized the silence had stretched on longer than she intended and decided to be the one to break it. 

“How often do you come here?”

“Not often enough.”

They sat in silence for several more minutes, taking in the view and finishing their gelato. 

“So... are you going to admit it?” he asked finally. 

“Admit what?” 

“That you’re happy I brought you here.” 

She huffed and twisted toward him. “I’m happy I’m here but I can’t go around breaking the law if I want to be Minister, Malfoy.”

“Who said anything about breaking the law?”

“That portkey! It takes over a week to set up an international portkey legally.” 

“Yes, it did. I do hope that’s one area you intend to speed up with your ‘government efficiency’ promise.”

“But... you mean... why would you...it costs 10 galleons a person and...” Her brain was tumbling in four different directions at once. He went to all the trouble of getting an international portkey for tonight that they might not even use? “How did you know I’d go with you?” She finally managed to spit out a coherent question.

“I figured if you came with me, great. And if you said no, at least I’d have my favorite gelato to comfort me in my rejection. You know as well as I do that the ministry doesn’t care if you overpay.” 

He turned to look at her and his eyes were sparkling in the moonlight. “One thing I’ve learned in my line of work is that you don’t gain much without taking risks, Hermione Granger.” 

_ This is it.  _ She thought.  _ The part where he asks me for something in return.  _

“And what exactly...” she sat up straighter and tried to exude professionalism as much as possible, “are you hoping to gain? Some proposals you want pushed through? A certain number of favors per year of my administration in exchange for your galleons? I have to say I was expecting you to want something in return for your support but it never crossed my mind that you’d try to butter me up with some crude attempt at... at... what is this, Malfoy?  _ Romance!?  _ You think you can  _ charm _ me into giving you whatever it is that you want for your business empire?”

For some inexplicable reason, he started laughing. 

The sound seemed to work its way directly into her bones and she felt it feeding the rage monster that was growing inside of her. She could tell her hair was starting to push back against all of its controlling charms from earlier in the evening. She stood up. “I’m ready to go home now, please.” 

“Granger,” Malfoy stood up and grabbed her hand, pulling her closer to him, “I may have had a lot of bad things to say about you in the past but I have NEVER thought you could be bought or bribed or... or  _ charmed _ as you say into giving me political favors. Tonight has nothing to do with my support for your campaign.” 

She looked down at where his hand was holding hers. “I don’t understand. Tonight is supposed to have  _ everything _ to do with your support for my campaign.”

“I told you earlier, you already had my support whether you came along with me here or not. Nothing about tonight will make me change my mind about supporting you, it’s important that you understand that. I already knew everything I needed to know about Hermione Granger, perfect politician and Merlin-willing next Minister for Magic before I agreed to this evening.” 

She looked up at his face again, still confused. He must have noticed because he continued talking, almost frantic now in his effort to make her understand. 

"I've been watching your work for ages and for quite some time now I've known you're the most interesting witch of my acquaintance and I thought... I thought that tonight... Merlin Granger are you going to make me say it?!”

“Say what?!”

“I’m interested in you!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

They stood there staring at each other, him trying to get across his feelings and her trying to find the lie in his words or his eyes.

He broke eye contact first and threw his head back. “Merlin you’re insufferable!”

“Exactly!” She rolled her own eyes, “You hate me!”

He let go of her hand and for a moment she thought he was going to storm off but instead his hands found her face and he stepped even closer to her. “I’m sorry in advance for this, usually I’m great at subtle romance and working up to it but I have a feeling you won’t believe me any other way so I’m just going to push on and hope you forgive me.” 

“Forgive wha-” Before she could finish speaking he closed the space between them and his lips came crashing down onto hers. She was shocked, naturally, but her body wasn’t registering her disapproval the same way her brain was. She felt herself lean into him and her lips parted slightly.  _ What are you doing Hermione! You aren’t supposed to be kissing him back! Damn it feels good though. Who knew Draco Malfoy was such a good kisser? _

His hands moved from her face to her hair and her hands seemed to be moving of their own accord. Soon they were on his chest, clinging to the lapels of his suit jacket.  _ He tastes like gelato. I like gelato... _

And then it was over just as suddenly as it had begun. He pulled away from her and took a step back. His pupils were wide and his breathing was shallow. She wondered if she looked as bowled over as she felt. 

“I have feelings for you, romantic feelings. I thought it was about time I let you know.”

“Message received,” she said, coyly. She felt her eyelashes flutter as she tried to catch her breath.  _ What are you doing being coy with Malfoy!?  _

For a second he looked like he was about to kiss her again but then he seemed to think twice and instead turned and sat back down on the low brick wall. 

She considered her options. She could leave now and go get her own emergency portkey back to London, or even a muggle flight if she couldn’t get anyone from the embassy up at this hour. But the conversations about how she got here might be awkward. She doubted anything could be more awkward than staying here and discussing  _ feelings _ with Draco sodding Malfoy though. I mean, it’s not like she has feelings for him. Right? Right? Shit. 

She sat down next to him but didn’t say a word. Her own thoughts and feelings still swirling around precariously inside. 

“I know you don’t care for me, and I know that even if you did it would be a nightmare for you politically to get involved with me. I’ll never  _ not _ be a former Death Eater, no matter how much I wish it all never happened. I was a complete fool, thinking I had even the slimmest chance with someone like you...”

“Draco, you’re not a fool.” 

He turned sharply toward her. “Aren’t I?”

She laughed softly, “Well yes, in many ways you are. But not about tonight. I had a great time with you.”

_ Reach out to him! If you’re doing this you might as well go all in, you fool of a woman.  _

She reached her hand out and grasped his, pulling them both back onto her leg. He slowly turned to look at her. She took a deep breath. “You might be Draco Malfoy,  _ former  _ Death Eater, but I’m Hermione Granger, one third of the Golden Trio, brightest witch of her age, and the youngest ever Head of the Department of Magical Law. I’ve got enough good reputation in the bank for the both of us, I’d say.” 

“But you aren’t interested in me. I mean how could you be? I taunted you for years...”

“Don’t tell me who I am or am not interested in, Draco Malfoy. One thing you need to learn quickly about me is that I don’t like anyone telling me how I feel. I'm interested in you, too. As far as I can tell, there's just one problem."

Draco looked up, almost hopefully, but seemed to be holding his breath.

"What could you possibly plan for our next date to top this one?" She saw the shock on his face as he processed what she said but she didn't wait for him to respond. She pulled him closer and for the second time ever, her lips met his in a kiss. 

oOo

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This is my first published piece so please be kind. :) I have several other works-in-progress that I hope to share in the coming months and any encouragement in the form of kudos/comments would be much appreciated.


End file.
